Genetic Counseling in a Pediatric Hospital

In one case after another, Charles L. Bosk reveals the process by which parents, physicians and other health professionals come to guide decisions about pregnancies. A story of both extraordinary drama and ordinary routine, this is a pioneering case study of authority and control in a pediatric hospital, showing how genetic counselors work with colleagues and with parents to be, and how they deal with their powerlessness to control life-and-death decisions that they must address.

AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1: Invitation to Ethnography2: The Doctor-Patient Relationship in Clinic: Routine Work3: Counseling as a Mop-Up Service4: Baby Doe before Regulations5: The Boundaries of Care6: Autonomy’s End: Toward the Future7: A Twice-Told Tale of WitnessingReferencesIndex

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